


Past Deeds, Future Born

by SilverWolf7



Category: Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Angel & Demon Interactions, Angel/Demon Relationship, Books, F/M, Flaming Sword, Lower Tadfield, M/M, One Shot, Pregnancy, Puberty, Sick Character, Wing Grooming, Wings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-04
Updated: 2016-12-04
Packaged: 2018-09-06 14:00:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 20,691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8755315
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverWolf7/pseuds/SilverWolf7
Summary: Aziraphale is called on to move to Tadfield, leaving another angel in his place. An angel Crowley works with in an effort to stop Hell from getting their hands on something rather important.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This story was written for the 2009 Good Omens Exchange for bittersweetwish. I only very recently found it again, after all these years, after having lost it. 
> 
> I am happy to have refound this one, because for something written in only three weeks, for me this is amazing. I loved writing this, I loved sharing it, and I loved that people liked it back then, so I hope people like it just as much now.
> 
> Enjoy!

Past Deeds, Future Born

Lurking was by far more of a demonic activity, especially for a certain few who made it more a sport than a pastime, so to see an angel doing a bit of slinking about was a rather odd sight, even though no one was actually seeing it.

Well, not with eyes any way. 

Staying as invisible as possible, the Principality made its way through the streets, careful to stay in the shadows and to keep its body low and bent to try and hide itself better.

It hadn’t picked a form yet, but knew that it would need to soon. It had been given a job here, on Earth, which was different from anything it had done before. But first it had to take care of something else. Something it had been told might take quite a while to actually complete.

Some creatures on God’s earth were stubborn and finicky, but that wouldn’t stop it from completing what had been asked. But first things first...it needed to look for the one it had been assigned to find.

An angel, a fellow Principality, called Aziraphale.

*****

The sun was shining brightly down into the Pit and on the Them who sat about on their milk crates, talking about what they could possibly do for their summer break which had just started. 

Dog was sniffing about the cracking mud of the dried up watering hole that was usually occupied by frogs and flies, occasionally finding something smelly and interesting to roll in. Adam watched his dog for a while, not really paying any attention to what the other three were saying around him.

Something was different, not...right. Something was going to change, and he didn’t know how or what or why, but he did know that someone he knew would be very hurt by it. Looking about the quarry, he wondered if it would be one of his friends, or someone else. Maybe it would be Anathema, or Newt? 

It was definitely someone close to him. Else he wouldn’t be feeling this strongly about it.

“Adam! Oi, snap out of it!” Pepper said, slapping the back of his head to get him out of his thoughts. 

He rubbed at his blond curls before turning to her. “Pepper?”

“We were just sayin’ that it might be good to go an’ get some ice cream.”

Oh, yes, of course. Summer day, hot weather, nice bit of sun as it should be and all. “Sure, sounds good,” he said, smiling at her.

The Them were now 13 years old, and things were getting really weird between them. Not enough to break their friendship, he doubted anything could do that, but just normal human stuff. Normal human stuff that was really bizarre. 

The adults called it puberty, the Them called it a pain. Especially Pepper. Half the time she really was in pain. And when she was, the three boys definitely knew it. Thankfully, this stuff was taught in schools, so they all knew what was happening on some basic level.

For Adam it was slightly different. Well not the process itself, that was happening normally, well as normally as it could possibly go anyway, but he could feel it on a much more...deeper note. When one was tuned in to their body as much as he was, things tended to make themselves clearer.

It was a very stupid thing to feel. Nothing but overactive hormones and the body changes caused by them. 

Standing up, he stretched out a bit, stiff from too much sitting down and not enough activity, and led the way out of the Pit and into the heat of the day. Ice cream really did sound good. Maybe once they all had a cone in hand they could go over to see Anathema and Newt.

It couldn’t hurt to check up on things.

*****

The bell above the shop jingled merrily in its place, which made Aziraphale look up at the person who had just walked in. Usually customers pretty much stayed away, so it was always a surprise when he heard that small bell chime. 

No one was there. Sighing, he got up from where he had been working on a database for his books (his poor computer hadn’t had a good work out since last tax season, and it was definitely due a good run) and looked outside. Something falling to the ground with a loud clang drew his attention to an alley not too far away from the shop and he sighed. No customer then, just a child being humorous.

They always seemed to target his shop.

He didn’t really mind this, it kept them out of some real trouble with other shop owners, so with a slight chuckle he let himself back inside, switched the sign on the door around to say that the shop was closed and went back over to his computer.

A message was on the screen.

A message from Above.

If he had been anyone else he would have thought he was going completely insane, but he wasn’t, and he was an angel, so he bent down lower to the computer to carefully read through it again. A few minutes later he was sitting ramrod straight in his chair and reaching for his phone.

He needed to call Crowley to see whether he had gotten a similar message from his people, or if this was unique to just him.

He hoped they were in a similar position, or he was going to get very upset, and he couldn’t do that without major consequences.

Hitting the speed dial for Crowley’s phone (Crowley had programmed it himself, as Aziraphale had not wanted to touch anything but the numbers in case he did something wrong and needed to either buy a new phone, or use a miracle to heal it which would get him laughed at) he was actually rather surprised when the demon answered after the third ring. Either he had unwanted company, or was bored out of his mind.

“Crowley? Are you alone?” he asked, not wanting to get the demon into trouble if he had a few...’friends’ over.

“Yeah. Aziraphale? What’s wrong?”

Aziraphale blinked and looked around the shop, checking whether the demon was hiding somewhere and had bypassed the call onto his mobile. “Er, what makes you think something is wrong?”

A snort was heard on the other end. “You’re calling me. Enough said. Usually it’s the other way round.”

“Oh...”

He hadn’t been thinking too clearly on that one. He only ever called Crowley in emergencies, when of course the demon was busy elsewhere and not home to pick up the call. Which explained why he was so surprised to be getting an answer.

“I...received a message.”

Silence on the other end of the line was all the answer he got. Either Crowley was waiting for him to continue, or was being a pain about all this. Either way wouldn’t really surprise him. Aziraphale cleared his throat. “A message, you know...from Upstairs.”

“And...”

“And they say I am being...reassigned. Still in England but not in London.”

This time the silence stretched on, and he knew that Crowley was wondering the same things he had. Was this some elaborate plan to keep the two of them separated, or was Aziraphale just not good enough for a city, and was instead to be shipped off to a town somewhere. 

“Did they say where?”

“No, just that my replacement would be by later today. Crowley, my shop, my books. I can’t take them with me.”

Even more silence followed that. “You need to leave today? I can’t exactly take your books.”

Aziraphale sighed heavily. He had known that, really he had. What would a demon do with a bunch of old bibles? “I don’t know. I need to ... I don’t know what to do...I don’t want to leave. I’ve been here for centuries.”

“Yeah...well, I’ll visit. Depending on the place naturally...”

Letting out his breath in a rush, Aziraphale shook his head. “Wouldn’t you get in trouble? I mean...not necessarily with your people but...with the new angel? I mean, I expect whoever takes my place would try and do their best to stop you.”

Crowley chuckled lightly on the other end of the phone, and Aziraphale felt like hitting the demon to get him to shut up. “Nice to know you care. Well, if I disappear off the radar, you know why.”

“Don’t say things like that! You’ll visit me?” He could hear the desperation in his own voice at the thought of losing the only friend he really had. He hated that it made him feel guilty, and hurt, and angry. None of those things were quite...right.

“You know I will. Every weekend. I’ll let the angel have free reign then. Imagine the kind of mischief I can get around to where you go? Sounds like a good break.”

“Alright. Well, I better go then. Keep in touch. I’ll call you when I reach my new post.”

Crowley hung up without saying goodbye. The demon always did, but this time it was a bit more abrupt than usual, probably because to him it felt like a true goodbye. Who knew what would happen with someone else in his place here in London? Crowley could be killed for all he knew, and the thought terrified him.

It shouldn’t, but it did anyway. No wonder he was being shipped off to somewhere else. He wasn’t exactly the world’s best angel. He was too...human. Gone native as it were. He thought too much like them.

He felt too much like them.

But now all he could do was sit and wait for his visitor to come and replace him, and tell him the name of his new town. 

He hoped his replacement got lost somewhere along the way.

* * * * * * * * * *

It had found the place rather easily, and slipped through the door, the shape it had chosen a young female human and sought out the owner. It was rather surprised, and yet quite delighted at the collection of literature in the rooms, most of which it could see were very well preserved copies of their Lord’s book.

Well, the Word as the humans interpreted it. Some things were naturally a little different now. It had been rewritten too many times to have stayed in its original form. The books were kept here, nice and safe from the outside world, kept by their protector, the angel it would replace. The books were now its right.

Slowly walking to the kitchen, a delicious smell of what it had come to know as ‘tea’ was wafting out and it sat down at the table opposite the angel Aziraphale. A cup of the liquid appeared in front of it.

“I got your message,” Aziraphale stated, looking down at his own cup, before taking a sip. 

“Yes. It is time Aziraphale, time to relocate. The books are now in my upkeep.”

With a sigh born from an emotion it didn’t know, Aziraphale nodded and stood. “I am ready.”

The tone of voice stated otherwise, but it was too wise to say anything about that.

It told the other angel where its next post was to be and got the shock of its life on earth as Aziraphale passed out at the news. It wondered if all angels that had been here as long as Aziraphale did this.

It chalked it up to one of the dangers of overworking.

* * * * * * * * * *

The feeling that something was wrong came back to Adam later that night, while he was having dinner with his family. His sister was home, and telling of her latest travels in Africa, where she had been on safari with her boyfriend.

Adam knew that secretly the two had gotten married, but didn’t bother telling Sarah he knew this, or his parents either. It wasn’t any of his business until it was announced here, and it would be soon. It was the reason the two had come back.

Sarah was pregnant, and had only just found out. She would be staying home until the baby was born. Maybe even longer than that.

It was the longest his sister had ever stayed at home for one visit. It should get really interesting. Family things seemed incomplete without her, like camping and hiking, and picnics. Then of course he thought of being an uncle at the age of 14 and he got all nervous and fluttery inside.

Was he supposed to become an uncle? Was it right to be an uncle this young? Was someone with his...uniqueness cut out for babysitting some innocent child, or would he corrupt the baby without even trying?

That last question made him upset. Damn emotions were out of control nowadays. What he was had never really been much of a problem since he started and then stopped the end of the world.

Plus, until Sarah told them officially, like the marriage thing, he would have to pretend he didn’t know.

He sighed and picked at his dinner. He wasn’t hungry tonight, which was odd. Lately he had been hungry a lot of the time. Maybe something didn’t feel right because he was sick? It was the kind of thing he didn’t normally feel. He couldn’t remember being sick even once before.

“Son, eat something, or you’ll stop growing.”

Adam looked at his Dad, ate a bit of what was in front of him, sighed again and put down his knife and fork. “I’m not really hungry. Think I might be getting sick or something.”

His mum lifted up her hand and put it to his forehead and frowned. “You do feel a bit hot.”

Ah, so he was probably getting sick then. He pushed the wrongness he was feeling away. He had the reason for it now. The someone close to him in trouble was himself. It could be anything from a cold to a raging disease that could kill him, but it was himself that was wrong.

“Can I go lie down?” he asked, looking at his dad as he spoke. With a frown and another hand to his forehead, his father sighed, gave him permission to leave the table and Adam made his way to his room. 

Maybe if he got some sleep he would feel better come morning. He had the day planned out with the Them, and he didn’t want to miss the fun.

His dreams were filled with fire, which didn’t surprise him in the least, and he woke up with a fever. He guessed he was going to miss the fun day out after all. 

He was told to stay in bed by his parents.

* * * * * * * * * *

Tadfield. 

Of all the places in the world he could have been sent to, it had been Tadfield. He had asked once he had woken up and found himself on the floor (he had been rather embarrassed. It wasn’t often he fell down in a faint, and the replacement seemed entirely too relieved at that when he had told it) whether it was lower or upper, but had just received the one word again. Tadfield. Home of apocalypse stopping antichrists, witches and their witch hunters, and an entirely too nice weather system to be normal.

Well, it was odd but now that he thought of it, he was surprisingly relieved and yet terrified that it was Tadfield. He knew people there. Anathema and Newt, who were now permanent residents, Adam of course, the antichrist himself, and he knew that Crowley wouldn’t get into any trouble visiting him there, unless his replacement (whose name was Anael) followed.

But to live there, so close to the place that had almost ended up destroying the Earth he loved so much, was like a living reminder of past mistakes. What he had done during the Apocalypse that wasn’t was now more than likely turning around and biting him on his...well, Crowley would either laugh until he was crying over this, or be just as terrified as he was.

Knowing the demon, he would do both. First laugh and then when it truly hit home where Aziraphale was now posted, go into a tirade of angry swearing that would end with both of them drunk and spouting philosophy.

That last didn’t sound too bad right now. He could do with a drink, but first he had to move. And he was going to have to go the old fashioned way of flying. Using public transport would be wrong in this situation.

He’d be tired by the time he got there. It took a few hours for Crowley to drive there at breakneck speed. Well, at least it wasn’t a bigger distance, and he could stop to rest along the way, seeing as no oceans were between him and his destination. 

He was being watched, and he knew this, so he carefully packed up what he wanted to take with him, putting it all in a bag he could easily carry in his hands without dropping it, while leaving his wings free to move, made himself, his bag and all possessions inside invisible to human eyes and took off.

He would need to find himself a nice cottage there, and that was one thing he was looking forward to. It had been ages since he had lived in a cottage home, literally. 

It was a shame really, that he hadn’t been able to say goodbye properly to Crowley. 

Still, at least he would be somewhere that would be pretty to look at. And if he was really lucky it wasn’t a permanent position, just a temporary job until Anael had finished whatever task it had been assigned.

* * * * * * * * * *

The telly was turned off quickly when they decided to ‘try’ again right then and there. Newt was getting used to the abruptness of his fiancée, especially when it came to the good old fashioned way of baby making. She was unstoppable really. He had given up saying that he wasn’t really in the right mood after the first three times it happened. 

Maybe he was actually getting the hang of the whole sex with other people thing. He was doing enough of it, with Anathema, and he usually felt rather good, if not a bit sleepy afterwards.  
It was when she wanted it more than once in a row that he really objected. She had stopped trying. Maybe later he would be able to do that, but his body just didn’t have the stamina for it right now.

She really wanted an heir. He wanted to wait until they were married, but if it kept her happy, he would give her anything she asked for. 

Knowing their luck they’d end up doing both on the same day. A wedding followed by a birth. 

Yep, now that would be a memorable day.

She stopped the rather enjoyable things she was doing, frowned, got up and went into the bathroom.

If he was really lucky, he would soon find out that the reason for that was because she was already pregnant. She was out of there again a minute later, still frowning. “Sorry Newt. Really, it’s just...something didn’t feel right.”

Newt let his expression fall into the closest thing he could make to a kicked puppy. He didn’t feel right? “Oh, well, I’m sure I could do better.”

Anathema blinked at him, confused for a second before her eyes cleared and she laughed. “I didn’t mean that, I meant in a general sense. I can’t concentrate on you if I am too busy trying to figure out what feels...wrong.”

So, she liked to make him feel good just as much as he liked to please her. Well! That was nice to know. He smiled back at her, beaming, despite the ache in his not so private regions.

She swooped on him and showed him that while she hadn’t the mind to have full on sex, she could still please him while thinking of other things. He decided he would forgive her for having her mind a mile away as he eased back down to the rug, exhausted.

It was still better having someone do that to him then doing it himself. What would he be like if he had never met Anathema? Still a virgin, he was betting. No other girl had so much as looked at him twice, and he thought paying for things like this was decidedly wrong.

She was still thinking by the time he had gained back his breath and put his clothes back on. He wasn’t going anywhere that day, so it didn’t matter if his clothing was all rumpled.

When there was a knock upon the door, Anathema jumped to her feet to answer it right away, only to let the Them in (minus Adam) a few seconds later. She was frowning.

“Adam’s sick.”

Newt stood up too fast and fell back down, knocking their video player they had off its stand (a feat in itself really, considering it was on a bench under the telly) and cursing, got back up, more slowly this time.

Well, he knew that Anathema’s hunch of something being wrong had definitely been right. As far as he knew Adam had never once gotten sick.

This was Bad.

* * * * * * * * * *

Crowley had managed to drift off into a pleasant sleep sometime around 6am, and was rather pissed off when he was woken up by the insistent ringing of his phone by his bed. It took him a minute to remember why he put his mobile there to begin with and when that sunk in, he lunged at it and hoped he caught Aziraphale before he gave up on the call and he had to wait for tomorrow.

“This better be you, angel, or I am turning this phone off for good.”

It was an empty threat. He liked his phone, and used it for not only business reasons, but also for just plain fun. Ringtones were among the best things he had ever thought of. They could entertain one for hours if they had the stamina for it.

“I can’t believe they sent me here!” Aziraphale whispered fiercely to him from the other end.

“Er...where?”

“Tadfield!”

He went silent at that. Aziraphale, the angel who had defied everything and decided to fight on the side of humans instead of that of his own kind, had been sent to work in the same town that said fight had taken place.

“Tadfield?”

“Yes! I’m staying in a hotel for tonight, will find my own place tomorrow. Probably visit a few people. I think I owe that nice woman an apology for what happened to her book.”

“They are all still living there?! Bless, it’s been what, 2 years since that day?”

“Yes. Well, Anathema and her nice fellow, the one with the amphibian’s name, decided to stay here. The children naturally aren’t old enough to leave.”

“Newt. I think it was short for Newton.”

Aziraphale stopped talking and Crowley heard the sounds of a door opening and closing, and he could hear the clink of metal on china, as the angel made himself some tea. He sniggered at the next words that came out of the angel’s mouth.

“Well, at least they have good tea. And food. Really, maybe it won’t be so bad.”

“Yeah, well, tell Adam I say hello. Sort of thing I should probably say, seeing as how he’s the antichrist.”

That made Aziraphale pause on his end, before the angel sighed loudly. “Yes, well, I better hang up now. They charge by the minute here.”

“Bye then,” he said before hanging up fast, not hearing whether the angel had said it back.

He lay back down nice and comfortably, but he knew for a fact he wouldn’t get any more sleep that day. He was too busy thinking of the world ending, and Aziraphale being stuck in a place where he had gotten pretty bloody close to knowing what it would feel like to trip up.

He still wondered how it was that he could Fall for one tiny little thing, but his angel friend could do all the things he’d done, including defy God and other angels and still remain an angel.

Well, as long as Aziraphale could keep his nose clean, neither of them should get into any trouble, with either Above, Below, or Adam.

* * * * * * * * * *

Sitting in Jasmine cottage’s kitchen, gathered around the dining table, the Them, Anathema and Newt (who had gotten dressed to save himself some embarrassing questions later on) were listening to Pepper talking.

While Wensleydale and Brian knew as much as Pepper, they knew better than to challenge her authority when Adam was not around. She was much more domineering then either of the two boys. With her eyes wild and arms waving as she told them of Adam’s turn for the worse, it looked to the others as if she were on fire.

All four were watching her closely as she explained about their missing numbers’ mysterious fever, two listening to every word she was saying looking for some kind of clue that it might mean the end of the world. The other two were just plain watching. Drool may or may not have been seen at the corners of their mouths, and neither one was willing to stand up at that particular moment in time.

Both young boys would deny anything if asked, so the adults decided to not say anything. Kids at this age were too unstable for it to go over well.

Pepper was enjoying herself immensely. 

“And so, we thought it might be best if we told you lot, as you all know ‘bout Adam an’ all.”

Newt and Anathema nodded, both knowing that it may not be necessary that they were told, but both relieved to know that while they were adults, they were still considered as part of the small group, just by earlier interaction.

It was good to be needed by someone, even if it was just a bunch of kids, one of whom also happens to be the antichrist.

They all jumped at the unexpected sound of the doorbell ringing through the kitchen. After all, it couldn’t be Adam and no one else usually visited the nice couple living in Jasmine cottage. Anathema got up and went to the door, wondering who on Earth it could be.

When she opened the door and saw a familiar face she frowned, before turning an accusing finger on him. “You! You’re the one who stole and then burned my book!”

The looks that flickered across his face were priceless, first surprise, followed by a look of confusion, which swiftly changed into disgust. “I didn’t burn it, and I found it in the backseat of the Bentley. I was going to give it back. I just needed to read it first to see...I had a nice collection of books on prophecy. Been gone a day and I already miss my books.”

Anathema stopped pointing at him and lowered her hand back to her side. “Oh...well it was gone and the last place I remembered it was when I bumped into the car. And you helped me put everything away.”

The man in front of her blinked, got a glazed look in his eyes before looking back at her. “I was teased for a week over the bike incident just so you know. And the straps being Tartan. Crowley almost had a fit.”

Anathema remembered the old Phaeton as opposed to the new Phaeton and blinked. “Yes, well, tell your boyfriend I’m sorry if I scratched the paint on his car.”

Those eyes, she couldn’t really tell whether they were a vibrant blue, or a storm grey, or somewhere in between the two, got wide and a cough escaped him. “Boyfriend? No, we aren’t together. Well, like that anyway. The last thing I need right now is to draw that kind of attention on myself, and it isn’t right to begin with.”

Anathema crossed her arms under her chest. “I think it is sweet, not wrong. Love is love after all.”

He blinked at her. “Oh! No, no, I didn’t mean that. I meant in the way that it would be a very, very bad idea for the both of us, plus neither of us is very much of a sexual being in that sense in the first place. We’ve been somewhat friends for the past 6000 years. Nothing more, a lot of times less though.”

“How’s that work then?” came a voice behind Anathema before Pepper walked up to them. “Sort of like a Romeo and Juliet thing?”

Aziraphale blinked and just stood there looking confused. “Er...well you see once before time began there was a War, and quite a few angels Fell and became demons. The War is pretty much still going on you see, and, well, it’s bad enough we are friends.”

Pepper nodded. “So, like Romeo and Juliet. Forbidden lovers, heh. Sweet.”

“We are not lovers! What gave you that impression anyway?”

Anathema smiled. “You were like a maniac and I was beginning to wonder if I was going to be raped or killed by you, and then he called you angel.”

He closed his eyes. “That’s because I AM one...”

Anathema and Pepper both nodded. They had seen him with his wings out after all, they already knew that. And yet they still had thought...

“Well, it doesn’t matter now anyway. I was just reassigned here...I don’t know if it is temporary or permanent. Thought I might check up on a few familiar faces.”

Anathema soon ushered the angel into her home, anger at the Book she had kept most of her life being gone vanishing just as fast as it had appeared at the thought of another familiar and friendly face that would now be around quite a bit. “Well, nearly everyone is here. Except Adam. He’s sick at home.”

“He’s sick. Ah, well hope he gets better soon then.”

The rest of the Them and Newt heard this and stared at him, Anathema frowned. “You don’t think this is a bad thing? Adam hasn’t been sick before. Very healthy that boy is.”

Aziraphale smiled. “His mind is probably on other things, rather than keeping himself healthy. It’s all a matter of will power for him.”

It was as if even the cottage itself sighed with relief. The tightness of the area seemed to dissipate with his words and Anathema felt herself relax more than she had since she first thought that something felt off. 

“My, you people should learn to keep calm.”

And suddenly everyone was laughing and sitting down and drinking the tea which had just appeared in the middle of the table. There was also an extra chair, and enough room for eight instead of six.

All at the table had seen stranger things. 

Aziraphale found that he would probably enjoy his time here if all days went as well as this one. The Them calmed down a lot and went off to play in the chalk quarry after their second cup of tea, and Anathema and Newt stated that he was quite welcome to stay in their cottage until he got his own.

He accepted the offer of a bed for the night, even though he had already picked out a nice little cottage nearby for himself, ready to be moved into tomorrow. He rarely slept, but until he found his footing properly, any escape from reality seemed good to him.

* * * * * * * * * *

Books, Anael was finding out the hard way, were a lot trickier than it had first thought. As was having a corporeal form. It had taken a while to get used to walking without pulling out its wings, and when it forgot, the feathers would make a right mess all over the floor from bumping into books and tables and other solid things inside the bookshop Aziraphale had owned.

The books took up space, and a lot of it. They could be either light or heavy, but both kinds hurt if they fell on you from shelves, especially if they happened to hit you on the head. It wasn’t stupid really, it had been able to sense the power of one of the Fallen a mile away, and while the demon kept its distance, that didn’t stop it from playing silly little tricks.

It wouldn’t mind so much, if it had been anything but these particular books that were being flung at its head. Not used to pain, it was getting to be ridiculous to be assaulted when it decided to have a go at reading one of the biblical texts. 

There was a sadness in the shop that seemed to permeate everything and Anael knew it wasn’t its own sadness, it didn’t know the feeling, hoped never to learn it.

It didn’t take long to recognise a pattern though, and so when it felt like reading, Anael waited until midnight by the human clocks, then it would be left in peace. 

It was this slight break from utter human childishness on the demon’s part that stopped Anael form going straight over to where it felt the demon and destroying it. But until it had fully made itself at home, Anael was going to ignore the games.

The first thing it had to do was learn how to act human. Or at least human enough to pass for one.

It needed to really, it was about to run into a bit of trouble. 

Anael just hoped that it was strong enough to stop what it knew was going to happen.

* * * * * * * * * *

Raging fires sprang from the ground and deposited a shape that wasn’t remotely human, but soon tried to get itself into a shape that resembled one. It fell short, but not far. If people didn’t look too closely, they might mistake the demon for a punk kid with a Mohawk, really bad skin and piercings that made the ‘normal’ people (not too many people so much as blinked, but a few old people had a habit of staring and scowling) wonder if it had been very painful.

The shape was female, mainly because it had business up here with a certain demon that was usually ignored and the less likely it looked to cause harm, the less likely it was that it would be doused in holy water like Hastur claimed happened to Ligur.

The silly little snake had disposed a Duke of Hell, but that wasn’t why it was here. No, it wanted something much stronger than one puny, little, barely in the ranks demon that preferred earth to the wicked pleasures one could find in Hell if one happened to be a demon.

It was after something bigger, and it knew that Crawly knew where to find it.

Oh, that’s right, the snake went by the name Crowley now didn’t he? Well, it, no she, would have to remember that. Yes, it may be more important to not go around antagonising him.

She realised it had been a good idea to take on a female form. Now all she needed to do was choose a fitting name for her first little foray into the world above the fiery pits that had been her home for so long.

* * * * * * * * * *

Dog barked from his place at the foot of Adam’s bed, and the boy felt as if his head would split in two from the sound. He raised his head slightly to glare at the mongrel, and was glad when the dog jumped off the bed to hide under it.

Adam lowered his head back to his pillow and sighed. He wasn’t getting any worse, but he wasn’t getting better either, and he knew, knew, that something wasn’t quite right beside himself.

He had been wrong to push the odd feeling that someone was in danger away. It wasn’t him, he would survive, it was someone else.

He could feel the presence of a demon that was up to no good, and he knew that it really wanted something but Adam, his mind hazy with fever, couldn’t figure out just what it was. And he knew that was a very bad thing.

Someone was in danger....still. And the danger kept on creeping closer. And right this moment if he tried to walk, he would just get dizzy and fall over or throw up. He had earlier that morning at any rate.

He couldn’t concentrate either. It was almost like something was stopping him from getting better.

He hoped that was just the fever making him imagine things.

* * * * * * * * * *

Staying with Anathema and Newt was rather pleasant. He had been given a spare bedroom that looked like it was ready to be changed into a nursery at the drop of a metaphorical hat. The way the two couldn’t keep their hands off each other made Aziraphale smile. Love, it could be so wonderful, though a bit messy sometimes. 

He tuned them out until they went to sleep, and then tried for a bit of rest himself. It wasn’t going to happen. Every time he closed his eyes, he kept picturing his shop going up in flames, taking with it all his books (again) or the new angel breaking their spines because it hadn’t quite got the hang of how to look after them yet.

Even worse was when his imagination ran away with him and he kept thinking of Crowley, alone, trying to fend off the holy wrath of an angel. Or some angry demon sent from Hell to collect Crowley because he was now out of the way. 

Had it all been some kind of plan to get to Crowley? Some even larger plan just to get him? He couldn’t be sure and he wished that he had Anathema’s book of prophecies with him.

He needed to know.

But it wasn’t for him to know, he supposed, all he could do was to be a good little angel until he was allowed back home (if he was allowed back at all) and to make sure that Crowley was safe if and when that happened.

He would call his demon friend first thing in the morning to check up on him. He had the slightest hunch that he was not only angering the new angel, but that there was some even bigger danger.

Being around someone for 6000 years or so was usually a good way to develop a bond of some kind with them and he felt a slight pulse of an unfamiliar demonic signature he hadn’t encountered before, and it was close to Crowley.

He couldn’t help it. He worried, and he wouldn’t feel better until that pulse of demonic energy was gone from the earth.

* * * * * * * * * *

Crowley woke up during the night. That in itself was strange, but the really odd thing was the banging noise that he soon recognised as someone knocking on the door.

Slowly Crowley pulled himself out of bed, leaving his glasses behind in order to scare whatever little creep had woke him up when he had been having such pleasant dreams involving himself, Aziraphale and ... what in the world had he been dreaming about?!

What he had seen while he was asleep soon vanished completely out of his head when he recognised the unmistakeable feeling of another demon standing on the other side of the door. 

Frowning, but aware of the utter stupidity of standing right there when the one on the other side would be able to sense exactly where he was, he opened the door and took a few huge steps away from the doorway.

It was a punk. A female punk. Or its imitation of one anyway. Instead of hair it had rather spiky pieces of hard green flesh that imitated a hairdo. Its skin was an off shade of grey instead of one of the normal colours for humans. What at first glance seemed to be piercings were actually bony nodules.

All up, Crowley decided, this demon did a much better job at looking human than either Hastur or Ligur had ever dared to try.

“Crowley.”

Gulping and nodding slightly, it wasn’t as if he could really deny it. He was one of the few demons who spent most of their time on Earth instead of in Hell.

“I name myself Shae.”

At the mention of that name Crowley’s heart sank in his chest. Metaphorically speaking anyway. Literally, it sped up and started pumping blood so fast it made him feel slightly dizzy. He went to his couch and sat down before he fell over in his sudden fear of being run out of his flat and forcefully dragged back to Hell, this stranger in front of him his replacement.

What a nasty trick, getting rid of Aziraphale like this just to get to him. Unless both of them were being punished, which was just as likely.

What, with Apocalypses stopping instead of continuing like they should. For that matter...was there even such a thing as a plural for Apocalypse. He knew there shouldn’t be. There was supposed to be only the one.

Shae laughed at him, as she stepped inside and closed the door with a slam of finality. This was it. He was forever banished to Manchester knew where.

“I’m not here to take your place, snake. I need your help to find something very important I have been ordered to get and I am told that you would know where to look for it.”

The tight feeling in his chest loosened slightly. He shifted on his couch. You could never really trust a demon. They lied. This could still be some trick to drag his sorry arse back ‘home’.

“Looking for something? What makes you think I know where it is?”

Shae smiled at him, showing rows of sharp, pointy teeth. “I have been told that your angel friend is close to it. I can sense an angel nearby. I believe he owns a bookshop near here.”

While breathing, or for that matter even having a heart that could beat, wasn’t really necessary for him, he found that while he wanted to, he was stunned to the point of not being able to suck in enough oxygen.

“What about the angel?” he whispered, not knowing whether the demon Shae knew that Aziraphale had been reassigned or not. If not at least he could get rid of Aziraphale’s replacement easily enough. He could tell the demon in front of him was tough.

“He guards it, even though he mightn’t know he does. That is all I know. I will know it when I see it.”

“A book. Gotta be a book, he hoards them...” Crowley muttered to himself, before remembering that it wasn’t the best thing to do in the company he was currently in.

“Perhaps...” Shae replied, smiling at him again with her mouth full of sharp teeth.

Great! Shae really did think that the angel in the bookshop was Aziraphale, though it wasn’t. So, news of Aziraphale’s reassignment hadn’t gotten back to Hell yet. Still, now he felt obliged to help the other angel, the one he had been messing about in very childish ways just to see how it would react, and would somehow need to make friends with it. Or at least pretend to be friends.

He wondered briefly if the new angel even knew what friendship felt like.

He didn’t know what its human body looked like yet...the last thing he could afford was to look shocked over it. Still, first things first, he needed to get rid of Shae for a bit. He needed to talk with Aziraphale’s replacement and explain the situation before things spiralled out of control.  
Aziraphale after all was part of his plan, and if he intended to keep Hell thinking that Aziraphale was still here, he would need the new angel’s cooperation.

He couldn’t see a way to get that. But it had to be done...and fast. Hopefully after a phone call, and with a lot of luck, he could arrange a meeting. He would promise to not hurt the angel anymore, even with a silly book. Well, not until this mess was cleared up.

Either way, he really needed to keep the angel inside the shop at all times to guard it, and he needed to make sure that Shae kept thinking that it was Aziraphale.

This was going to be difficult.

He couldn’t let Shae get her hands on any of the books, even if it wasn’t a bible or a book of prophecy.

Prophecy. Yes, it must be one of those books... 

It seemed that the world was once again heading towards an Apocalypse.

* * * * * * * * * *

Anael sat at the small table in the kitchen, a cup of the tea Aziraphale was so fond of in front of it. No, her. She had to get used to it. The body she had chosen was female, and humans didn’t normally call themselves ‘it’ as a sex, so it had started calling itself by the female words.

She, her, woman, girl, female. It was so much to get used to, but since a customer had come in and started calling her girl she had decided that it would be really worth learning the human way of thinking.

Now she understood why Aziraphale always insisted on being called ‘he’ since most of his bodies had been male. It all made so much more sense now that she was here.

The tea was hot and burned her tongue when she took a sip, and she quickly put the cup down. The pain of one’s corporeal form was annoying, especially when it came as unexpected as that.

Pain was something completely new to her. Even more so than using the right word for the gender she had chosen. She wondered how the humans dealt with it all the time. Ah well, one of those little things one must learn while living on Earth.

Another thing that was completely new was the strange ringing sound she knew was the phone. She had gotten a crash course on some of the newer implements the mortal beings used, and the telephone was one of them. So, when she heard the odd sound, which sounded a bit like bells that were out of tune and cracked, she found the contraption and picked up the receiver.

“Hello?” she asked, not sure how the thing actually worked, only that you talked and you could hear the words the one on the other end was speaking. It was a rather ingenious thing really. She was glad she got to try it.

“Hey, you took over from Aziraphale, yeah? Whatever you do, don’t hang up on me, this is very, very important.”

Anael froze a bit at that. “Demon...”

“Yes! I’ll stop throwing books at you if you listen to me. They don’t know yet, and it would be better if it stayed that way.”

She blinked. Who didn’t know what? “Huh?”

“Shit, just...don’t hang up and listen alright?”

“Alright demon, I will listen if you start making sense,” she yelled wondering if the being on the other end could hear her properly or not.

“Ow! Fuck, you don’t have to shout you know...there’s a demon after something in the shop. She thinks that you are Aziraphale. It is important that she continues thinking this, alright? And that means I will need to speak to you in person sometime soon. I won’t do anything bad, promise. And I assure you that I keep my word. Ask Aziraphale if you ever see him again.”

Blinking again, Anael wondered just what she was getting herself into by taking this job in the first place. “So soon? I thought I would have time to at least acclimatise myself first...” She said it softly, so the demon wouldn’t be able to hear her.

There was a creepy silence on the other end of the phone. “Hmm, so, Upstairs knew that this might be happening. Things are beginning to make a bit of sense. Well, no matter. Stay in the shop, and don’t leave. I don’t know what it is the demon is after, but I bet it’s one of the books. Probably one of the prophecy ones, seems much more likely than a bible. Especially since it is a demon that’s after it.”

“Yes...” she had thought the same, once she had had a good look at the collection of books that Aziraphale had collected over the centuries.

“I’ll...come over sometime tomorrow. Give you a short crash course on Aziraphale. No one knows that angel better than me.”

There was something oddly true about that, and Anael believed it. Aziraphale had been stationed on earth since the Beginning. Over 6000 years was a long time to develop one’s own unique brand of acting and thinking. Still, it was unnerving to hear a demon say that he knew more about an angel than Heaven did.

Well, she knew that He would know more about Aziraphale than anyone else, but He knew everything. “Will I need to change sex? I was just getting used to this form.”

There was a short pause from the demon on the other end of the line. “Might help, they don’t know what he looks like. Just...make yourself look male and it should be alright.”

“You know what he looks like...”

“Yes, but for the most part I am ignored, so be grateful for that.”

A demon that was basically ignored by Hell and who had a permanent status here on the earth? Even Aziraphale wasn’t ignored. His behaviour was explained away for the most part as being eccentric from spending too much time on Earth. 

Was it worse for demons to do so than it was for angels?

“Yes...I will await you tomorrow then.”

“Good,” was all the answer she got before there was a loud clunk that hurt her ear and a weird beeping sound that wouldn’t stop. She put the receiver back on its cradle and walked back to the table, looking down at the tea.

She took another sip, this time smiling at the taste and the nice warmth that it infused into her body as she drank.

She concentrated on the body she was in for a bit longer and changed it that little bit more male in structure. She kept the face and hair the same, as she was used to seeing them in a mirror by now whenever she passed one. No, he now. He, male, man, his, him. A whole new set of gender related words to get used to.

Was life ever easy for the beings on this plane of existence?

He didn’t think so.

* * * * * * * * * *

Aziraphale felt the unfamiliar sensation of waking up after having fallen asleep. Someone was above him, shaking his shoulder gently, trying to wake him and he opened his eyes to look at whoever it was blearily.

“Hmm?” he asked, recognising Newt.

“Breakfast is ready. Anathema wants to know if you want anything.”

When he sat up, the blanket over him fell and pooled at his waist, his clothes were rumpled beyond what they were used to, he looked back at the young man beside him and smiled kindly. “Oh, yes I would like that. It has been a while since I had company for breakfast.”

He wasn’t lying, the last time had been on one of the occasions he had forgotten to sober up at Crowley’s flat and had passed out on the floor for the night. Thankfully he wasn’t the only one who had suffered a few minutes of a hangover before remembering that he could get rid of it with a thought.

That morning they’d only had toast, this morning it was a proper breakfast all laid out and looking good enough to devour within minutes. He helped himself to some sausage and egg, a bit of bacon on the side, and a few pieces of toast with marmalade.

They talked about silly things all the way through, the perfect weather, how cute babies were when still unable to even crawl, London, books they had read, and most embarrassingly of all, whether or not knowing someone for 6000 plus years made you automatically a couple.

He had said no, the other two looked at him as if he were crazy.

“But that does remind me, I need to call Crowley. I felt another demonic presence near him last night and it worries me.” He really didn’t like the looks on the two faces beside him. They seemed all too pleased with themselves. Didn’t they understand that it might be something Bad? For Crowley, if not himself.

“What? The last thing either of us wants is to be dragged back to either place and left to face the consequences. I don’t know what would be worse, me or him in trouble, and I should be, I really, really should be...”

“Why?” 

It was Newt who asked, and Aziraphale shuddered. “For...past actions.”

They both understood what he was talking about and frowned as much as he was.

“You can use our phone. It’s in the family room.”

He nodded to Anathema, got up, and quickly dialled the number he was so familiar with. The phone was picked up in record time. “Aziraphale? Whatever you do, don’t come back here, not even for a visit. Your replacement has accepted my terms for the time being considering what you felt last night, but don’t worry overly much, it isn’t here for me.”

Aziraphale blinked. “Wait a moment...you are working with Anael? Whatever for? How could it possibly not be bad if you are willing to work with her?”

“Oh, Anael’s going to be doing a bit of pretending that’s all, for that matter so am I. Won’t get into trouble though,” Crowley said and something in his voice made Aziraphale suddenly want to fly back there right that second and stop whatever was happening himself.

“Pretend what exactly?”

“That he’s you. Sex change, to make it more real. Prefers female form though, heh.”

“What?!”

“Yeah it will make sense when I explain it later, until then though, I won’t be visiting and it would be best not to call either.”

“So...I am left here on my own until whatever is going on is over. Nice to know who your friends are, isn’t it?!”

Crowley was silent for a while on the other end of the line, before he spoke again. “Angel, calm down, it’s not a permanent thing. Once this is fixed I even think you can come back here.”

“Don’t call me that! Bastard! Maybe in the end they will drag you back to Hell.”

The silence after that was longer than the first and seemed to stretch on for eternity, and they both knew what eternity was. “Aziraphale?”

He hung up, not even bothering to answer Crowley’s unspoken question of whether anything was wrong. If the demon wanted to find him, then he could crawl all the way here to do so.

As a snake.

He had been abandoned by the only person he thought he was even remotely close to. Without a backwards glance at Anathema or Newt, he made his way out of the house and towards the little cottage he had rented for himself.

And then a thought occurred to him. Adam was here in this village wasn’t he? Well, maybe he could have a nice little chat with the antichrist and ask what was going on. Adam knew just as much as He did, after all. And that was exactly what he needed right now, someone to tell him that he had overreacted to Crowley’s words.

He went to his cottage first, and almost decided it was nice until he remembered the conversation he had just had and he became angry again.

He lay down on the couch he had miracle up in the living room and pulled out a book hoping to distract himself by reading.

A nice chat with Adam, no matter how terrifying the thought was, seemed to be his best course of action. He would visit the Young residence later that afternoon, once he was feeling a little calmer.

* * * * * * * * *

Newt stared at the door the angel had just walked through, looked towards Anathema and shrugged. “Fight?”

“Sounds like there won’t be any friendly visits from a demon for a while yet,” Anathema replied and he nodded back.

He wondered whether Aziraphale and Crowley, he was pretty sure that’s what the angel had called his demon ‘friend’, were able to recognise what everyone else that knew them could see. 

Newt sighed, shook his head, put his arms around Anathema and led her outside to try and see where the angel had gone. By the time they got to the balcony, there was no sign of Aziraphale.  
They sat down on the love seat out on the balcony and held each other. Honestly, this feeling was something no one should hide from, and for an angel, someone who was made to love all things, it had to be hard to suppress it.

“Think they’ll ever realise?” he asked.

Anathema looked up at him with a knowing smile, winked and nodded. “Oh yes, they will.”  
Newt believed her. She only really got that odd look of knowing when she was channelling the odd power of premonition that rarely came over her.

It was a prophecy he was glad for. It meant that everything would be alright in the end and that there would probably be a happily ever after. How long it would take though was anyone’s guess.

They left the balcony only when the heat of the sun drove them back inside for something cool to drink and lunch. There wasn’t any strenuous activity the entire day. They were just glad to have each other.

* * * * * * * * * *

As lunchtime came and went, Adam knew that something was about to happen, but he had no idea what. Something was getting closer, and he couldn’t tell if it was good or bad, only that it wanted to talk to him about...something utterly unimportant.

He had managed to eat a sandwich, salad he thought, though he hadn’t tasted a bite of it. It had been big though, and he was sure he would have enjoyed it if he’d been well, but he was so tired and hot and sweaty.

Maybe it was the weather. It was unseasonably hot right now, even for summer time in Tadfield. He thought that the way he was feeling had something to do with that. He did control the weather in this place. But right now, he was too ill to do much. 

The world should be glad that he wasn’t thinking of destroying it. That might be bad, and he’d never get well again. But all he could think of now was trying to get better.

A knock on his door and Sarah walked in, a slightly odd smile on her face. “A friend of yours, well so he says anyway, wants to see you. Says it’s not important if you are too ill, but he would like to talk if possible. Something about a matter you should know about.”

Adam sat up and blinked. Of course! Aziraphale, the angel. Yes, he remembered now, sort of. The main purpose was gone, but the ideas and feelings swirling about the angel were the real reason he was here. It wasn’t really important.

“Tell him he should just be happy about it and not to be so damn jealous...”

Sarah looked at him oddly. After all, she hadn’t even mentioned the visitor’s name so how could he possibly know who it was but she walked out to convey his message to the person waiting impatiently downstairs.

A moment later he heard someone stomp angrily towards his room, and he pulled his light sheet over him in a futile attempt to hide. His door burst open and he was staring at a very angry, unreasonable angel, who looked intent to send him back to his biological father.

“Jealous?! I don’t feel jealousy! And even if I did it wouldn’t be over some...some snake like him.”

Adam blinked wearily up at Aziraphale. “Sure you do. Been here too long, developed some bad habits. Too...human.”

The angel huffed. “That’s no excuse! It’s your fault, I know it is! Ever since you were born these things have been spiralling well out of control. Stop it.”

Adam pulled back the sheet again, and turned fever bright eyes towards the angry being ranting by the side of his bed. “Not my doing. Was there a long time before I was ever born, you just didn’t realise it until I was. The two of you spent so much time together those 11 years, that there was no way it could have been avoided and no, I didn’t know anything back then, not until that day did I know anything. Don’t blame me for this. Too sick to do anything right now anyway...”

Aziraphale looked at him closely, saw his face red with fever and calmed down immediately. “Oh, I’m sorry. I knew you were sick. I heard from those friends of yours. The girl who calls herself Pepper, told us all.”

Adam blinked. “You staying here for long? Or won’t it take long? I don’t know. I don’t like not knowing, it isn’t...right. Can’t think properly.”

Aziraphale shifted. “I don’t know how long. I was reassigned here, there’s some unknown demon running around London with Crowley, and Anael’s taken over my post there. Said he’s guarding my books...why would he want to guard my books...?”

“Important books. All...all bibles and prophecies and first editions.”

There was a snort from the angel. “Yes, well until it all burned down during the Apocalypse that was stopped. Then it was all remade with the added bonus of a rather lovely collection of children’s books.”

Adam smiled. “Y’can sell those ones y’know. Make some money with that shop of yours.” He stopped talking, looked over to the door and frowned. “You said congratulations to Sarah, didn’t you? She was looking all weird when she first came up here.”

Aziraphale shrugged. “That is what people normally do when they find out one is pregnant, isn’t it?”

“No one knows except her, Timothy, that’s her husband though I’m not supposed to know that either, and me. Oh, and you I guess and y’know...Him.”

“Ah. I think I may have scared her then. Sorry, didn’t mean to. You should tell her that you know, get her to tell the rest of the family. And really, eat some dinner tonight, you look terrible.”

Adam snorted this time. “I just ate lunch. Now let me sleep. Too bloody hot to do much else...”

With nothing more to say, the angel went to the door, opened it, and left the antichrist to rest. Adam listened to the sounds of much lighter footsteps now, and wondered whether he had managed to help or hindered things with those two. Well, he hoped he had helped. It would be a real shame if their relationship suffered because of him.

Adam shrugged the cover completely off himself and went to sleep as he had said he would. His dreams, as always during the past few days he had been sick were filled with fire.

* * * * * * * * * *

After the rather upsetting conversation he had had with Aziraphale, Crowley spent the rest of the day sulking in his flat. He didn’t really understand why it had upset him, but Aziraphale had really meant what he had said, and that he found oddly...painful.

Shae stopped around again, wondering if he had gone to ‘Aziraphale’ or not.

He was determined to make the newest demon’s corporeal existence as awful as it could possibly be for mucking up the friendship he had with Aziraphale. He spent her short visit glaring in her general direction, but never looking right at her.

After about five minutes, Shae smirked at him in a disturbing way, and left again, her presence disappearing after a while, probably waiting for the next day before rising again from Hell. Well, at least he knew she was well and truly gone. 

Until her return, he was alone on earth and able to talk freely to Anael. But first, he needed to calm down. The last thing he wanted was to get on Anael’s righteous side because he did something too demonic.

Or idiotic. Either was likely considering the mood he was in.

He had turned on the telly, watching reruns of the Golden Girls, followed by reruns of Cheers.

By the time he arrived at the bookshop, he was in much higher spirits, and ready to tackle the problem at hand. He had to convince an angel who barely knew him that he was on the side of good for this.

Until this mess was fixed and Aziraphale was back here in good old London with him, he would play for the angels willingly.

Sure beat the Hell out of helping a demon ransack a place he had visited for the past who knew how many years. Though he may never have told Aziraphale, Crowley was actually quite fond of the bookshop. He just didn’t like dust. And there was plenty of that around the shop.

He was polite, knocking on the door and waiting until it was opened by the angel who let him in. He felt a little uneasy himself, but smiled widely anyway as he walked around Anael, making his way easily to the backroom and taking the chair he thought of as his.

“Glad to see you haven’t really changed the place. Aziraphale would chuck a fit if you had when he gets back.”

It was as good a place as any to start, and he was hoping it proved he knew Aziraphale, even though he was sure most demons by now would know that.

“You are the demon Crowley?” Anael asked him.

“Yeah. And you are Anael, the one who has taken over Aziraphale’s post here. Something to do with guarding the books, right? There’s a demon after something in the shop. Not exactly good for business. Or Heaven I am guessing.”

“No...How do you know my name?”

Ah of course, he hadn’t asked for that on the phone had he? Well, inquisitive could come in handy here. “I talked to Aziraphale yesterday. He told me. Sounded quite upset about being left out.” Right upset at him for sure.

He watched the look on Anael’s still feminine face, wondering if the angel knew that it would be teased mercilessly for that. “So...any idea what Shae is looking for in here? I’m guessing it’s a book of prophecy. Aziraphale likes them almost as much as his bible collection.”

“Shae..?”

“The demon I told you about over the phone. Looks like a punk girl. You are out of the loop just as much as they are...but you’re smart, I can tell that. Or at least, you use your brain, which is a lot more than I am used to seeing of those from either side, who come up here and grab a corporeal body. Must fry some cells or something...”

Anael stared at him, blinking bright blue eyes which reminded him of the way Aziraphale’s eyes looked sometimes. His angel’s eyes had a strange habit of changing in a swirl of colour depending on mood. Sometimes they were a light, bright blue, sometimes a stormy grey. But most of the time a strange mix between the two.

Wait...his angel? And when had he spent that much time looking into his eyes to notice their every subtle difference? The big ones were noticeable but...oh no.

“Oh...shit.”

Anael, despite not being Aziraphale, reacted in a very Aziraphale–like way by frowning slightly. “Please don’t swear.”

Crowley nodded, before banging his head noisily against the table they were sitting at, leaving it there as a headache formed. He didn’t bother getting rid of it.

He moaned in confusion when a cup of tea materialised just by his shoulder. It wasn’t the way he liked it, but it was there anyway. And that too was something that Aziraphale would have done. If Anael started calling him dear, he‘d go home to sulk some more.

“I don’t know what Shae is looking for. It would make things a lot easier if I did. Has she got a time limit to get it in?”

Business then, yes, that made things much easier, Crowley thought. 

“I don’t know. I can ask next time she comes around but right now she’s gone back Down. All I know is that she is after something, and that they know Aziraphale is guarding it. And Aziraphale was reassigned to Tadfield, and replaced by you. So, you must have known this would happen. Aziraphale isn’t...he isn’t that strong a fighter, but neither am I so we are usually just left alone.”

Those blue eyes looked at him and the angel smiled. “Yes. I was given the position here. I wouldn’t think Aziraphale was a weak fighter though. He wouldn’t have been on post in the Garden if he wasn’t good.”

Crowley frowned. “I always wondered...why the demotion? It’s like a slap on the wrist. Your lot don’t go for that, but then again, neither do demons...”

Anael glared at him, and he sunk down in his seat. Not a good idea to piss off the angel, he reminded himself. “That is between Aziraphale and Him.”

Squirming, Crowley nodded back. “Yeah, got it.”

The burst of holy energy that had been pressing on him since he asked about the demotion, the likes of which he hadn’t felt in quite a while left and he took a deep breath of musty air. Followed by a sip of tea, now the right type and the way he liked it.

A couple of minutes silence enveloped the room as they both reigned in themselves so they could get back to thinking up a plan.

It was now becoming clear that this was going to be harder than either of them had thought. Well, maybe there was one thing he could do...

“Do you think whatever Shae is looking for might be marked in some kind of way? She did say something about being able to recognise it as soon as she saw it.”

Anael sipped thoughtfully at his own tea, wincing slightly at the hot temperature. “Perhaps. The only way to find out would be to go through every book in the shop...”

Crowley took a deep breath, smiled winningly and drank the rest of his tea in a rush. “Well, no better place to start than the present. You do the bibles. I am not touching those. I’ll grab the rest in the main part of the shop.”

And just like that they came to their own little arrangement. One would do the back rooms with the important books and scrolls that should be kept in safe hands, and the bibles in the main shop, while the other would look through the rather large collection of prophecy books, first editions and children’s books.

If Shae was to pop back up for a visit, Crowley would rush right home.

They would both be on alert for the other demon.

* * * * * * * * * *

Breathing in a breath of fresh air that was rather cooler than the last one she had taken, Anathema walked out of the cottage and down the road, heading towards the place that the adults of the town so aptly named the Pit.

She had the feeling that something wasn’t right again, and the drop in temperature probably had something to do with that.

The Them were the ones who knew Adam best, and if any of the three young teens had any clue at all to what was wrong with not only Adam, but in general, then she would go off and investigate that. If not, she would have to visit Adam herself.

She had been to Adam’s house before, when Adam’s parents had gone out and decided that the boy was not yet old enough to stay by himself. She had agreed right away, saying she’d even do it for free, and they’d had fun, reading her magazines.

It was wonderful that Adam had taken so much interest in the environment and looking after it. Sometimes she had the odd feeling that it was her magazines which had set off the chain reactions that had led to Adam deciding not to end the world.

But now he was definitely too old for a babysitter and she had never just visited.

Before going to his house though, she wanted to talk to the other three. Pepper might know something, and if she didn’t there was always Wensley and Brian. And they spent a lot of their time down in the old chalk quarry.

Which was currently empty, she noticed as she made her way down to the milk crates they sat on so often. She peeked around for any clues whether they had been there recently, but didn’t find anything.

Right, her next stop would be the home of Brian, since his house was closest to the quarry. Even if she had to each of the Them’s houses separately, she still preferred that than disturbing Adam.

She was very reluctant to go anywhere near him while he was sick. She had the oddest notion that there was something wrong with him. And it didn’t have anything to do with him being ill in bed, or being an antichrist.

Brian’s father told her that he was at a friend’s house. Anathema thanked him and made her way to Pepper’s house. Again she got the message that the one she was after wasn’t home.

She went to Wensleydale’s hoping that they were there, but doubting it. It seemed the Them had run off to parts unknown. So, it came as a rather nice surprise to find the Them outside Wensley’s house, an ice cream cone in each of their hands, looking like they were plotting to harass the neat boy’s parents.

Pepper spotted her, smiled and waved her over. It was nice to see someone do that, since she hadn’t made friends easily in her own childhood. She had been too strange for most of the other children.

“We wanna see how Adam’s doing, but my mum won’t let me go by myself, and Wensley’s mum’s afraid he’ll catch something.”

Nothing was said about Brian’s dad, which fit the boy really. He was a bit messy and willing to do what he liked more than the other Them.

“Ah, well, I was looking for you lot anyway. You can be difficult to find when you want to be. None of you have seen Adam at all then? Since he got sick?”

“No,” the three teenagers chorused back at her. She shook her head and sighed. 

“Would your parents still say no if I went with you then? I want to check on him myself. I have a bad feeling something is happening and I don’t know what it is.”

Sometimes she felt she could hit herself really hard for letting Newt burn the only copy of ‘Further Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter.’ She really didn’t want to be a professional descendent for the rest of her life, but at the same time, she hated not knowing what was happening.

Wensleydale rushed inside, and Anathema watched as his parents poked their heads out to confirm that there really was an adult with them. A few minutes later, the boy came running back out again, adjusting his glasses and grinned. “They said yes, as long as you are with us Anathema.”

She knew that as soon as they had seen Adam they would run off to the quarry, or somewhere else that might be classed as fun for them. She didn’t mind. She knew that they would be safe. Nothing happened, and that wasn’t Adam’s doing. It was one of the advantages of living in a small community. 

Anathema rather liked it.

With the three Them she headed off towards the road that led to Adam’s house, the teens still licking their ice cream, though it was chillier than it had been before, still enjoying it too judging by the mess they made.

She wondered how long it would take before they grew too old for things that they enjoyed now. She knew their games had changed a bit, but nothing else. The good thing was that they were still a close knit group of friends, and Anathema didn’t think that would ever change.

* * * * * * * * * *

Lurking in the shadows around the corner from the bookshop, Shae found that the angel, Aziraphale was busy looking through its books. With a feminine face and male body, how was one supposed to call the angel either male or female? Then again, quite a few angels preferred to look like this. No wonder Crowley liked hanging around it. 

While the demon had done his job by telling his angel friend about her, it was odd that he wasn’t helping to find whatever it was she was looking for.

With a frown and a few quick flaps Shae made her way into the sky, her wings beating at the air reminding her how good it felt to stretch them. One just had to remember to turn invisible first.

Crowley’s flat was in another district of London. The bookshop was in Soho, while the flat was in Mayfair. She thought she much preferred the angel’s tastes in living places. Soho was...raunchy. Mayfair was for the snobs that she had the distinct feeling her human persona really wouldn’t like.  
Probably because she was not pretending to be a rich bastard who liked to be flash.

The snake was inside, as he had been since she had arrived back up here. Probably too afraid to step out his own front door in case it got him into trouble with Hell.

He had played his part so far well enough. Now to see whether he was willing to go that little bit further...

* * * * * * * * * *

After having a day to cool down, Aziraphale found that he felt a bit like a fool for going off at Adam the way he had. It had been rude, and very unfair of him to just barge into the boys home, demanding answers to personal problems.

All Adam had said anyway was that he had feelings for Crowley. Well, yes of course he did, they had been friends for the past 6000 years. Well, on and off anyway.

They had started off trying to be enemies after all, succeeding in being so several times throughout history. But mostly they had tolerated each other’s presence as they were both beings of the divine and infernal working here on Earth permanently.

When exactly had things changed? What had Adam said? Those 11 years not too long ago which led up to the almost end of the world. They had spent most of that time together, meeting in all sorts of odd places they could think of whenever they could. That had been in America. Warlock, the dear boy, had to have had the oddest upbringing of any normal human being on earth.

And one of the most unfortunate names too.

Flopping down onto the old lounge he had made (in the same shape and form of the one in the bookshop) he glanced at a clock that he had packed in his little bag.

He hadn’t bothered to tell Anael that he had taken one of the books with him. His own personal store bought copy of Lord of the Rings.

He had read it last night. He had felt like reading and it was the only book he had on him.

He had been very gentle with it. He was afraid now that it was the only book he had left that it would crumble into pieces at the slightest touch. It was a very silly thing for him to think, yes, but it was how he felt when he was away from his books.

He missed his books dreadfully and could imagine the mess the store would be in by now with some strange angel mucking about with them.

But most of all, he missed Crowley’s company. To have gotten that phone call only to find out that another angel was impersonating him for some unknown purpose had hurt. What if Crowley got on better with Anael pretending to be him than he ever did with the real him?

Aziraphale took a long deep breath and buried his head in his hands. Oh fuck! Adam had been right. He was jealous.

Jealous of another angel near the demon he had called friend for a very long time. It wasn’t right, definitely unheard of, and could get him into a lot of trouble. But he couldn’t stop himself from feeling it. 

The hosts of Heaven and Hell were right. He had gone native. He was acting like a love torn teenager. Like a human. He wasn’t and had never been either of those things.

Damn it, he was in deep.

He turned on the telly that was now sitting in front of him, trying to forget his own feelings for a while and get lost in the monotony of daytime television, only to find the only thing on was a rerun of one of those shows that Crowley loved so much.

With a sigh, Aziraphale switched off the television, walked to the door, opened it and set off for a small flight over Tadfield. 

All the time he was up there, he wished Crowley was by his side and not Anael’s.

* * * * * * * * * *

“What do you want?” Crowley asked, when Shae showed up in his flat for the third time. 

“To have a little chat, that’s all. Don’t worry. You still aren’t in trouble. I just...need to ask you a few things.”

Crowley gulped loudly enough for the other demon to hear and he sat down with a defeated sigh. “What is it? Not like I can hide anything with you popping up every two seconds is it?”

Shae shrugged her leather clad shoulders and sat down beside him, showing off her perfectly terrifying teeth in a predatory smile and asked the one question he couldn’t answer without giving something away.

“What do you really feel for your angel friend, Aziraphale?”

While his eyes were serpentine in nature, it didn’t mean he couldn’t do a bloody good impression of a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming truck. A road train. Speeding. Straight towards him.

Shae took that as an invitation of some sort, as she threw back her head and laughed in a way that made it a fact that this girl was not human. It made his skin crawl, and he had the odd desire to turn into his original shape of a snake and hide in some dark hole for it to pass.

All his instincts at that moment were serpentine in nature, not demonic or human. A hiss passed his lips. It was a warning sign showing that he was scared and angry, but Shae took the hint and shut up.

“Don’t worry. I’m not here for your precious angel. Just whatever it is he has that I need. I will be back to look for it tomorrow.”

He scowled. “He’s not my precious angel.”

Shae smiled at him in the most predatory way he had seen to date and he backed up, baring his own teeth. “No? Then you won’t mind me going over there right now and getting what I need. I haven’t had the privilege of disposing an angel yet. I’m always happy for a chance to try things like that.”

“No. You said you weren’t here for him.”

Another smile. “I’m not. But that doesn’t mean I can’t have a little fun.”

Crowley ran after that, not out the door, but out the window. Flying over buildings would get him to the bookshop before even his car would at its fastest speed. He needed to warn Anael of the incoming demon, and somehow get to Aziraphale just make sure this hadn’t all been some elaborate trick.

Oh please let Aziraphale be alright, he thought to himself, almost a prayer in his own head.  
Landing heavily outside the shop, he quickly hid his wings away and ran inside, tripping over a stack of books as he did so. “Oi, angel, hope you’re still in, cause I think she’s on her way and really keen on getting a pound of angel flesh.”

It felt odd calling another angel, angel. After all that was kind of his nickname (not much of one he knew but it could be used on so many different levels it was funny) for Aziraphale. But Anael was here and he had to keep on pretending right now, and if Shae was in hearing distance, he really couldn’t afford to shout out the wrong name.

Anael came out of the back room that had served as a place to go and get drunk for so many years he had lost count and scowled. He shouldn’t be thinking about stupid stuff like that right now, he should be thinking up a reasonable plan that would keep everyone involved (with the exception of Shae, of course) alive and in the same incarnation as they currently were. Bodies didn’t come cheaply nowadays, after all.

“Demon. I was just...”

The angel was cut off when Crowley lunged at him, grabbed him tightly around the waist and pulled him out of the way quickly as a demon that hadn’t been there two seconds ago now was.

“What are you doing?!” Anael asked, glaring at him with blue eyes which suddenly blazed brighter. 

Crowley glared right back, pupils shrinking to almost nothingness before turning him around. “Say hello to Shae. She’s here to steal something of yours, and hopes to kill you. Would you like that? I’m sure Heaven would love to have you sent back so soon!”

And that’s when Crowley realised he had made a big mistake. Shae’s smile disappeared and her eyes grew cold, showing no emotion at all. “So,” she said, looking at the two of them, eyes narrowing dangerously. “You are new then? Where is the angel Aziraphale? What I am looking for is with that one, not you.”

Anael shrugged out of Crowley’s grip and faced Shae on his own. “He has been sent to the place he was needed. You will not succeed in your mission, demon. We are well prepared to fight you.”

Realising that he was the only one that wasn’t fully informed, Crowley threw his hands up in the air. “So anyone going to tell me what in the name of Manchester is happening?!”

Shae and Anael both turned to look at him, the angel blinked once in confusion, but it was the other demon that spoke. “What does Manchester have to do with anything?”

Crowley closed his eyes and let out a sigh of frustration that didn’t do anything to help how he felt in the least. “Never mind...it’s a variation of a human saying. I don’t think either of you has been up here long enough to get it.”

Why in the world was he trying to explain it? He shook his head angrily and glared at the other two. “What is going on?”

“You don’t need to know,” was the only answer he got, before Shae was out the door, searching for traces of any nearby angels. Crowley knew that he had to follow her and fast, as Aziraphale was the closest angel to the city at the moment. 

With a sigh, he went outside, spread his wings once more and was soon in pursuit of the very fast demon. 

He was going to be extremely sore the next day...if he wasn’t discorporated before then.

* * * * * * * * * *

“They’re coming!” Adam said out loud, as he stood up from his place at the dining table. He had made it down for lunch, since he was feeling better, and the first thing he had felt was the presence of two demonic essences rushing as fast as they could in his general direction. 

Crowley would make it first naturally, Crowley knew about the Earth and the way to this town by now. Knew shortcuts. Or at least how to follow a road. The other demon was following the erratic essences of angels, trying to find the closest. It had succeeded but wasn’t sure of its choice.

He was about to excuse himself when there was a knock at the door, and stretching out his returning senses, he recognised Anathema and his friends, also nearing the house was the angel that the demons were searching for.

Poor chap had been rather put out by him yesterday. He should really apologise for that. He hadn’t exactly been at his best.

He rushed to answer the door, and dragged everyone inside. “Wait here, I am going to go and get Aziraphale.”

He ran outside, turned the corner and almost bumped right into the angel. Aziraphale frowned at him but that didn’t matter. He grabbed Aziraphale’s hand and dragged him as fast as he could inside the house. Inside was the best place to be right now. He could protect his home from outside forces. Though, of course he would let Crowley in.

When the time came, he was sure he would know what to do.

* * * * * * * * * *

Looking about for the right equipment, Anael was actually rather surprised to find all he needed to make a correct and reasonably good link to Heaven. The chalk circle and all the paraphernalia were already set up for use. All he needed to do was light the candles and make his call.

It was time.

He needed to get an item he had accidentally left behind and not missed until just now.  
Hopefully, it wouldn’t take long because time was quickly running out.

* * * * * * * * * *

The other demon was following Crowley now, Aziraphale could tell, even trapped inside Adam’s house with no way of seeing them with his eyes. Instead, he stretched out his senses, trying to focus on Crowley, to get him here safely, and make sure that the other didn’t get into the house as well. That could be devastating to all inside.

Crowley would, fortunately, get here first, but he was slowing down. Years of idle time spent on earth driving around in cars instead of using his wings had made him a bit slow it seemed.   
Aziraphale knew the feeling, though not as well. He hadn’t been in a hurry to get here, Crowley was. And the poor chap was flying at full speed and trying not to slow down. 

The other demon, Shae, was catching up to him.

“Adam, let me out, I have to help him, he’s lagging.”

“He’ll make it. You’ll see.”

And then Crowley was there, banging on the door to be let in, and the shields went down for a second, time enough for Crowley to wrench open the door, fling himself in and close it again. As soon as the shield went back up, a thud was heard on the door, followed by an unearthly screech of rage, coming from Shae.

“Oh, damn, that was close,” Crowley panted, his hands on his knees, his wings limply hanging down his sides, instead of being held up or pulled back in. Aziraphale winced. Crowley’s feathers were all out of place from the wild flight. Crowley hated getting his wings messed up.

And he had such beautiful wings.

He went over to the demon, gently began to massage the joint between the wings and his back and watched his demon friend wince. “I am aching in places I didn’t even know I had...” Crowley said softly, trying to move his wings into a more comfortable position but failing. Aziraphale continued to try to ease muscles, since he wasn’t shaken off.

After a few minutes he felt overused muscles begin to loosen a bit, and the tension that seemed to keep Crowley down eased. With a sigh, Crowley turned to look at him and grinned. “Communal grooming, angel? Thought you liked your wings a mess.”

A loud screech from Shae outside informed them that the comment had been heard by the infernal forces trying to get into the house.

“It’s not Anael, not even your shop. Whatever they’re looking for, you are still guarding it. Bring any books with you?”

Aziraphale shrugged. “Only Lord of the Rings, why?”

Crowley stared at him, his mouth unhinged a bit. “Wait a sec. You came here with only one book, all of Hell is after it, and it’s a fantasy?”

Blinking, Aziraphale shrugged. “Well, it is a good book, and who knows whether demons can get them Down Below...”

They would have likely turned into an argument if it hadn’t been for two things. First, Adam’s human family walked in demanding to know what all the fuss and noise was about and the second was Adam shaking his head and saying quietly “It’s not a book.”

Aziraphale looked at the Antichrist and sighed. “Then what is it I am meant to be guarding?”

It wasn’t said, not out loud, because of Shae was still just outside the invisible barrier that was protecting the house. No one really wanted the bitch from Hell to know what it was, but Adam’s pointed look at his sister made it all too clear. 

Aziraphale closed his eyes. “Oh. Well, yes, that does make a bit more sense.”

Hands on hips, and looking ready to smite them all with righteous indignity, Sarah marched over to the small group. “What do I need protecting from, and why does he have wings?!” She pointed rather rudely at Crowley, who grinned at her and let his sunnies slide down his nose.

“Grats, sweetheart. It’s the baby they want. A child for a child probably. Demon mentality.”

Aziraphale threw his hands in the air and began to pace. “Why me though? Why did they choose me to do this?!”

“Past deeds.” Adam stated, grinning at him in a smug way.

* * * * * * * * * *

The wind buffered around him like a barrier, and Anael found that it was harder to cut through then he had originally thought, especially now that he wanted to go fast. He estimated that it’d take about an hour before he reached his destination, and he could feel that wherever the two demons were, Aziraphale was with them, which meant now that the item the other Principality was protecting had probably been identified. 

All that he could do now was hope that the demon Crowley who had seemed honest in his attempts to try and help with protecting the books, was helping Aziraphale and not hindering him.

Either way, it would take a bit longer to get there, as he carried his bundle towards the angry throbbing of the aura of an enraged demon.

* * * * * * * * * *

“Adam, what in the world is going on in here?!” Mr Young shouted, breaking the silence that had descended on the room after Crowley’s little announcement.

“Dad...”

“Don’t bother with excuses, Adam, what is going on.”

The blond man with his hands now embedded in white feathers and preening them like a bird, frowned. “There was a...mix up at the hospital when Adam was born. There was only supposed to be two children there that night, and then you showed up, making it three, and an incompetent nun accidentally made a rather big mistake.”

The odd man on the ground who looked eerily familiar, a wing spread out, the other laying across his back, waiting for its turn to get the same treatment the other was getting, grunted. “Adam wasn’t supposed to go to you. And I should have stayed to make sure no one messed up, but I was rather glad to be out of there as quickly as possible.”

“You! I remember you! I thought you were a doctor or something. Seemed in an awful hurry. You haven’t aged a day...”

The man in question blinked up at him with bright yellow eyes, slits for pupils. “Yeah well, never said I was human did I? Great big pair of wings should have given it away, really...”

Not knowing what to think, Mr Young turned to Adam. “Do you know what they are going on about?”

Adam shrugged at him, and nodded. “I was supposed to go to an American home. Born and bred to bring about the end of the world. Instead I grew up here, normally. Decided things were my choice when it came to destroying things.”

The blond looked up at him again, smiling in benignly which made him want to grind his teeth. His next words were even less believable. 

“Adam is the Antichrist. Or, well, at least an antichrist. Didn’t work out too well.”

The winged man grunted out “Speak for yourself, angel, I’m quite enjoying continued life on this plane of existence.”

Mr Young looked back and forth between the two trying to make sense of what they were saying. “You’re angels then?”

The being with the pure white feathered wings laughed. “Oh, no. I’m a demon. He’s the angel.” A thumb was jabbed up in the direction of the one sitting atop of a lean back.

It was all a bit gay, really.

Not that there was anything wrong with that, though Mr Young hoped to have grandchildren from more than just Sarah. His head whipped around to face his daughter. “Baby?”

Sarah looked at him, and her mum, and smiled weakly. “Umm, surprise?” she said, before going over to a seat and plonking herself down in it, looking about ready to pass out.

Deirdre fainted, and he caught and carried his wife to the seat next to their oldest then sat on the floor since all the seats were taken. Odd one out in his own home. Seemed somewhat appropriate if it was true that he had raised an antichrist that refused to destroy the world. 

An ungodly screech echoed through the house, and he turned his attention to what was happening outside again. “What in the world is that anyway?”

“Her name is Shae and she is pissed. I feel Anael is coming too. Wonder what he wants?” Crowley answered.

Was it his imagination or were he and his family the only people in this room who had not known about any of this? Looking around the room, he saw a bunch of bored teens, a young woman who was reading one of those odd magazines that Adam had such a fascination with and then there were the two on the ground.

There was a slight shift in the room as one wing was exchanged for the other.

The world went dark.

* * * * * * * * * *

Sarah sighed loudly and heavily. Right now, she felt like she was the only normal person in the room. And she was what that monster outside, the demon, was after.

Figures. Sometimes the world was just so backwards.

She got Adam to help her put their dad into the seat she had just vacated, before sitting down as comfortably as she could on the ground.

Whatever it wanted her baby for there was one thing she knew for sure. It wasn’t going to get its dirty paws on her. And if it didn’t get her, it wouldn’t get her baby.

* * * * * * * * * *

Panting, out of breath though he knew technically he shouldn’t have to breathe at all, Anael found he could see the village of Tadfield expand in his line of sight. With it came a blast of evil presence from the demon Shae. 

From Aziraphale and Crowley, all he knew was that they were both inside the house that was guarded by a force field to keep out evil.

Well, that was alright, he wasn’t evil. He was an angel.

Without a second thought, Anael strode up to the back door, where a small dog barked mischievously up at him and wagged its tail eagerly. Trying the doorknob, he found it was unlocked, stepped into the house and closed it behind him, making sure to click the lock into place. Locking doors was one of the lessons he had learned in his short time on Earth. 

Humans had the odd habit of taking things that weren’t theirs from places they shouldn’t be.

Using his sense of aura to feel those of the two beings in the room not originally from the Earth he made his way into a room at the front of the house, where Shae was trying her hardest to get in.

The shield around the house was coming from the boy that must be the antichrist that had decided to not go along with the Ineffable Plan. Well, the plan that every being had thought was the Ineffable Plan anyway. Turns out that they might just have been wrong. He had been in a very good mood since though.

God had always had a lousy sense of humour. But he supposed it might amuse some. Especially Him.

Not that Anael felt that there was anything wrong with that. But it would have been nice to have lived throughout all of existence without being part of a huge cosmic joke.

“Anael.”

The greeting came from the two males on the floor. Crowley was almost purring and had his wings out and back turned. Anael’s fingers itched to run the demon through, but he stopped himself because it was Aziraphale that was grooming the wings.

Just how close were those two anyway? “Am I interrupting something?” he said, staring at the pair, with an arched eyebrow. Aziraphale smiled up at him and shook his head.

“No. Bit of a hard flight. We’re not too used to using our wings nowadays. Not for long distances.”

“I have pulled muscles and my feathers were a mess.”

Oh. Yes, of course. Vanity. There’s nothing quite like a demon’s need to look its best no matter how dire the situation. And this situation was getting just a little out of hand.

“Present yourself a bit better, demon. Your back is turned.”

Aziraphale was shoved off, and Crowley was sitting with his back against the wall in no time, his newly preened feathers getting ruffled against the wall. He couldn’t winch them in, could barely move them at all at the moment.

Anael’s fingers twitched. It would be so easy to discorporate the demon and send him back to Hell. But then Aziraphale was there in front of him, holding his shoulders and telling him to calm down. “He helped you. He got here as fast as he possibly could to warn me. He isn’t your enemy at the moment.”

It took him a few seconds before he confirmed that with a nod. It was true after all, and so far the demon hadn’t really done anything very evil. Well, the books thrown at him had been childish and annoying, but not necessarily evil. And even odder, he was inside the house. 

Were the shields lowered for him, or had he been able to step through?

Shaking his head, Anael pulled out the item he had brought with him and handed it over to the other angel. “Just for today. It isn’t your old one and I have to give it back.”

Aziraphale looked gobsmacked at the hilt now in his hands. 

Anael had done his part. He had made sure that Aziraphale had been protected for as long as possible, and had delivered the sword. He had deceived though, and worked with a demon. He hoped he wouldn’t be punished when he returned home.

Now he just had to wait. Aziraphale needed to prove himself.

* * * * * * * * * *

“Angel, is that what I think it is?” came the voice of Crowley from behind him, and he turned slightly, holding out the hilt away from the people inside the room, concentrated for a few seconds and a blade made of flame burst forth.

“Hmm, like a bicycle I suppose. Once you know how, you never forget,” he murmured to himself.

“Been a while since I saw you with one of those,” Crowley stated, grinning up at him probably remembering when they had first met in the Garden.

“Yes. Quite a while...Time hadn’t started back then. Not really anyway.”

“Good times.”

“Or bad, depending on your point of view.”

They chuckled, and Aziraphale relaxed. He wouldn’t ever get his sword back. He had lost that privilege millennia ago, and had never regretted it. But why did this situation call for it? He looked around the room, the teenagers were staring intently at the blade, all with wonder written on their face. After all, how many children their age had ever seen a flaming sword? Adam’s human parents were unconscious again, probably from the shock of seeing a fire inside their home.

Anathema was looking at it as well, though she too considered it more as a fire hazard than something that could help them. Aziraphale wondered why Newt hadn’t come with her. 

And there, still sitting on the floor, now with a few cushions to make her more comfortable, was Sarah. Pregnant, in danger, human. So utterly human. And he remembered why he had given his sword away. To help protect the new humans Adam and Eve out in a harsh land that they hadn’t been prepared to live in. It had kept them warm, helped to keep them from being eaten by the animals that had lived there too.

He had been demoted, and had felt lucky and relieved about it, and was permanently assigned to the new Earth. Apart from discorporations, he had become pretty much a resident of the world. It had soon become his home, and he was never really alone, because no matter where he was stationed, Crowley always found him.

For the first few centuries they had stayed enemies, though even in the Garden they had been rather amicable with each other, especially when they couldn’t figure out whether their roles had been reversed or not.

But in the end, it didn’t matter. Not at all. Because he had acted in the best interests of the humans he had been looking after, and that had been his job. To protect them from the Outside. From demons. He hadn’t done anything really wrong.

He had been going by instinct. An instinct given to him by Him. 

A smile lit up his face. “Oh, cheeky. Very cheeky.”

Because in a way, it had all been planned for him, without his knowing. As he was always wont to say, it was ineffable. And in the end, also rather inevitable. He laughed for a bit, something about the situation amusing him.

He had just received the Blessing of the most powerful being there was. 

The flame died to nothing as he stopped concentrating. It had been a long time since he had needed to really think to keep something going. And this was a big something.

“Alright. Does anyone know exactly what I am supposed to do, or do I have to figure that out on my own?”

Anael looked at him for a few moments, before closing his eyes. “Yourself.”

“Ah, yes, thought it might be like that. Well, in that case, I am going to go sleep for a few hours. I’ll need my energy to keep the sword burning.”

Crowley snorted and grinned. “Ooh, risky behaviour.”

Aziraphale frowned at him. “Crowley, please don’t.”

A pair of hands were raised in the air, and stretched wings a bit too much and were quickly lowered again with a wince. “Okay. But you are so in for it later.”

He rolled his eyes. “Yes, I guess I am.”

He doubted very much he was ‘in for it’ in the way Crowley was thinking of. No, he had a totally different fish to fry, so to speak.

He turned his back to the wall, next to Crowley and let himself slide down it, resting his head on a rather bony shoulder. “You need to put on a bit of padding, you know. You’re too skinny...” Crowley moved slightly, and Aziraphale found the new position much more comfortable. With a soft sigh, he closed his eyes and made himself fall asleep.

* * * * * * * * * *

With the horrid screeching coming from Shae outside, no one had thought Aziraphale would be able to fall asleep, but to everyone’s surprise but Crowley’s, he did. Anathema spent the next few hours sitting quietly on the floor near Sarah. 

Sarah, who was currently pregnant.

“So!” she stated, when the rest of the room was calm and quiet, Adam’s human parents huddled silently in a corner together, the only noise coming from the demon outside. “How’d this happen then? I’ve been trying for a baby myself you see, and so far nothing Newt and I have tried has worked. Did you try something special? A particular position maybe you can tell me about?”

Sarah looked at her as if she had gone crazy.

“Well, it would help me a bit...” she replied to the look, deciding to go back to her magazines. After all, they didn’t know how long they’d have to wait until Aziraphale woke up again or Shae gave up.

All she wanted was to pass the time, and it would have been nice of the other woman to have answered her. 

* * * * * * * * * *

Crowley shifted slightly, trying to stop the aching in his back, and to move Aziraphale’s weight to some other part of his body so he’d get feeling back into his shoulder. He hadn’t meant to wake the angel, but soon enough, after he had stopped moving (giving it up as a lost cause) he found himself confronted by a pair of blue-grey eyes. 

“Ah. Sorry. You’ve killed my shoulder.”

Aziraphale blinked and stretched, the hilt of the flaming sword falling to the carpet on the floor. “Sorry, Crowley. Not used to sleeping. And even if I was, I don’t think I’d like falling asleep like this too often.”

That made the smile on his face slip away. Did Aziraphale mean that he didn’t like sleeping next to him, or didn’t like doing so up against a wall?

Personally Crowley could think of more interesting things to do against a wall with Aziraphale rather than sleeping. He shifted again for an entirely new purpose and cleared his throat. “So, got an idea, Angel?” he asked.

“Er...”

Crowley let his head hit the wall behind him. “Bloody hell. I really don’t feel like being stuck in this house for the rest of eternity. Do something, since it’s apparently your show.”

Aziraphale pulled away from him, the beginning of a glare forming on his face, stopped by a look that might be due to either an idea, or a rather sudden need to hop off to the nearest loo. “Oh. Oh! Of course! My show. Indeed.”

Rolling his eyes, Crowley got up of the floor, glad to see that the inactivity of his wings and their massage beforehand had improved them enough that he could at least pull them in and out of sight from the other angel in the room. The one who had been making grabbing gestures unconsciously with his hands each time he looked in his direction.

Anael was beginning to get on his nerves. So much for the goodwill of angel kind...

“Yes, Crowley,” Aziraphale said then, looking him in the eyes and grinning widely. “I have a plan.”

He decided then and there that the relief coursing through him wasn’t one of pure happiness at the thought of his angel doing something for himself for once, but that of finally getting Shae and Anael off his back.

Yes, that had to be it.

And he had just thought of Aziraphale as his again...

* * * * * * * * * *

Bending down and picking up the dropped sword hilt, he looked at Adam’s parents and smiled. “Please forgive me for this, but it is the only solution I can think of right now that will cause things to happen fast enough for my plan to actually... well, work. Properly. If it does.”

He turned to Adam, held up the sword, made it flare into life and grinned. “Ready?” he asked the boy.

“Yep,” replied Adam, with a slightly pained grin of his own.

“Good,” he replied, and brought the hilt down hard over Adam’s head, knocking the kid unconscious.

The actions next came about both, as Aziraphale had stated, very fast.

As soon as Adam hit the floor, the walls of psychic energy around the house popped like a balloon. The door splintered into a million tiny slivers of wood and showered the floor by the entrance. With the wood came a murderous flying demon who, as it turned out, was going too fast to stop herself and fell right into his trap.

In a matter of seconds, Shae lay headless on the ground.

A few seconds after that, and the body was gone as Hell summoned it back, probably having felt the death from Down Below.

A clock ticked very loudly somewhere in the house.

“Well,” said Adam a few minutes later, when he had regained consciousness again and saw that everything had worked out. “That must have been rather anticlimactic.”

Silence again followed this statement.

It had been. Truly, it had.

The only one happy about the way it had turned out was Aziraphale himself.

Aziraphale decided now was as good a time as any to depart. He returned to the small cottage he had rented. A place he would miss he felt now that he was leaving it. 

He still had the burning sword in his hands, though the flame had gone out shortly after the killing blow.

No one followed him.

He felt very alone.

* * * * * * * * * *

Back at the house, Adam was trying to calm down his parents, who seemed to be on a rampage, wanting to go after Aziraphale for committing murder in their nice, neat home and b) for hitting Adam, even though Adam had known it was coming and had been quite ready to play along. 

“Dad! Leave him alone for a bit, alright. He did this for a reason, you know, and I knew what he was planning. I wouldn’t have dropped the shields on my own, I’d be more likely to protect everyone inside than do that. It’s who I am, what I am. I can tell things like that. It’s a kind of omniscience. Annoying right now, and it doesn’t really work at all when I’m sick, I’ve found out, but I knew he was going to clobber me over the head.”

“What if he had decided to kill you? Ever think of that? He was thinking of murdering someone with that sword and it could have easily been...”

“No! No, you don’t... No.”

“Don’t what, Adam,” his mum said, coming over to him now, moving for the first time since crawling into the corner with his dad, once they had both regained consciousness.

“Understand what was going on.”

He knew it was true. The confusion was so strong that everyone could feel it, including the rest of the Them and Sarah, who had been oddly calm through all of this, and kept glaring at everyone, while holding a hand to her belly and rubbing it in calming circles. She was thinking of her baby. Good!

He grinned at his sister. “Wanna know what it’ll be?” he asked her, getting that glare turned on him.

“I think I’ll wait for it to either be a surprise, or for proper tests, thanks.”

Ah, anger. Well, yes, all of Hell had just been after her baby. He could understand that.

He felt, rather than heard or saw when Crowley left, slinking off back to Aziraphale’s place. He let the demon go, knowing that it would be a great help to both of them to let things play out the way they would. It could go either way for them, but personally, Adam found he hoped they sorted out their problems and realised what the rest of the world already knew.

That they should be together. Should have been for quite a few years now, actually. Both were just too stubborn to admit it to themselves, not to mention to each other.

Hopefully they would now.

The alternative was too horrid to even bother thinking about.

No one should have to suffer through that.

* * * * * * * * * *

Following the angel wasn’t that hard for someone who was not only able to feel the presence of nearby angels and demons, but had also known said angel for over 6000 years. Aziraphale had stopped at a little cottage away from the rest of the world, silent and pleasing to look at. It was just the kind of place Aziraphale liked to live during earlier periods of Earth’s history.

It was making him a bit nostalgic for the easier life of days past. Heck, the Arrangement had been made in a cottage almost exactly like this.

He stood outside the door for what felt like a millennium before sucking in a deep breath and knocking gently on the door. He wasn’t stupid. He knew Aziraphale knew he was here. It just was the polite thing to do, especially after seeing said angel lop off another demons head as if he did it every day.

The door opened, and Aziraphale gestured for him to enter. They found themselves sitting on a couch which looked suspiciously similar to the one in the bookshop. “So...flaming sword huh? Still got it then?”

Aziraphale looked to the non-flaming hilt and shrugged. “I’ll give it back to Anael soon. I’m not allowed to keep it. Which I suppose is a good thing.”

“Mmm,” he answered, not really knowing what to say in this situation. It wasn’t awkward because Aziraphale had just killed a demon, which is what angels were supposed to do after all. It was awkward because this was the first time since the fight they’d had over the phone when this whole mess had started, that he was alone with Aziraphale.

In the end he didn’t have to say anything. Aziraphale looked at him, licked his lips, and Crowley wondered just what was happening when said lips were gently and unsurely pressed against his a few mad seconds later.

Aziraphale was kissing him. On the lips. Kissing him!

His brain felt like it was melting into a puddle of goo followed by the rest of his body, and thinking became harder than normal, so he stopped all that mortal crap and began kissing back.

It didn’t last very long, though longer than Shae’s dash into the house. He didn’t want to rush Aziraphale, or else the angel would get jittery and bolt. So when Aziraphale backed away, licking his lips again, he fought the impulse to latch on and never let go.

“Er. Okay...” he said after a few minutes of more silence.

Aziraphale turned to him and looked down at his hands. “Umm, I have a confession to make. Well, two really, but one main one,” his angel said, and now he felt at least slightly justified in calling him that even if only in thoughts.

“Yeah?”

“...I think the reason I got so angry when you told me over the phone was because I was jealous...”

Crowley started grinning like an idiot at that, but waited until number two as patiently as he could to see what else would be revealed.

“And...I’ve wanted to do that for such a long time.”

Another kiss right now would be appropriate if this was anyone other than an angel, so instead, Crowley did the first intimate thing that Aziraphale wouldn’t back out of that came to his mind.

He grabbed Aziraphale and hugged him.

It was sappy, and he’d have to give himself a stern talking to for that when he got home. Sappy was one of those things he just did not do, being a demon and all, with an image to uphold in the mortal world.

The next kiss they shared was a few seconds after that, and was once again initiated by the angel. Clumsy due to Aziraphale’s lack of experience, and a bit of a mess, it was still highly enjoyable to someone who had been waiting centuries for such a moment.

* * * * * * * * * *

Back at the Young residence, Adam smiled and nodded, glad they had decided to give it a chance.

* * * * * * * * * *

Soon after Crowley had left, Anathema had decided that it was time to go home, where Newt was most likely trying to fix the VCR. 

She would have to save up money for a new one if that was true. She honestly thought that by now, Newt would realise that it never worked when he tried to fix something. She kept on telling him to think destructive thoughts when fiddling with something. If he did he’d probably be able to handle anything, no matter how hi-tech or expensive it may be, and get it running better than ever.

He had yet to follow her advice in that regard.

She was almost glad he hadn’t been in the house with them. He’d have most likely popped the energy keeping them all safe around the house, knocking Adam out before Aziraphale had done so, and gotten them all killed.

The man she had chosen to spend her life with was a klutz, yes, but a loveable klutz.

When she arrived home, she saw that Newt was waiting for her on the love seat outside on the front porch, decidedly not touching anything else. It was still in a workable state. Good.

“Hello, Newt. Sorry about running off on you like that, but I wanted to see Adam, and got into a kind of...fight between demons and angels again. Sorry you had to miss out on it.”

He actually looked disappointed to have missed out on the excitement.

* * * * * * * * *

Life went on. 

It was one of the most interesting and comforting things about the universe. If it didn’t end, it would go on. People were born, people grew up, people died, and still the planet kept turning. 

It was a constant in an ever changing world. 

To Aziraphale it was the most endearing thing about it. This planet was his home. And he was blessed indeed to live here.

The cottage was a lovely little one down by the sea. Crowley had whined for a few weeks, but the sex more than made up for the small number of people around to tempt.

They had it all sorted out. If anyone from Upstairs asked him what he was doing, and why he couldn’t get back to his job, he could say that he was in the middle of getting a demon to repent his wicked ways and be embraced by the power of Heaven again. The same went for Crowley, except backwards. All the demon would have to say was he was trying to Fell an angel.

No one from either side suspected anything different. They were completely believed. Aziraphale prayed that it would stay that way.

Only time would tell whether it would.

But right now, he was trying to get Crowley motivated to move. Sarah had invited them over, knowing that they’d want to see the newborn baby.

It was a girl. Sarah named her Gloria. Gloria Hope. Hell had so far stayed away. So had Heaven.

The one main constant on Earth is that everything changes. But for some, it is those changes that make life worth living to begin with.


End file.
